Animal Activism, also known as The Animal Rights Movement and even The Animal Liberation Movement, is a movement that was formed to end the use of animals being used for any kind of entertainment, research, and even food. Members of this movement did not look at animals as property and believed that animals should be protected. This movement started in the United Kingdom in the 1970s by a group of post-graduate students and eventually turned into an international movement. The development of the Animal Liberation Front in the United States is not really clear, however the FBI believes that there was some undercover criminal activity that took place starting back in the 1970s as well. Researchers believe that the fist Animal Liberation Front’s first action in North America occurred when one cat, two dogs, and two guinea pigs were rescued from the New York University Medical Center. This raid took place on March 4, 1979.

Keith Mann is a British writer and campaigner and is one of the leading participants involved in the Animal Liberation Front. He also wrote a book titled From Dusk Till Dawn: An Insider’s View of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement. Keith Mann was a major advocate for the Animal Liberation Movement and as a result, that led to him attracting the attention and support of a few celebrities such as Celia Hammond, Benjamin Zephaniah, and Carla Lane. Furthermore, Mann became the subject of a documentary that aired on television.

He became even more well known when he was sentenced to 14 years of prison. Mann was arrested in 1991 because he was apart of a raid that consisted of an allied group. This allied group plotted to set meat lorries on fire. After some time, he somehow escaped from prison. He was found employed my an animal sanctuary that was run by the Celia Hammond Animal Trust. The organization hired Mann not realizing that he was an escapee from a federal prison.

Later he told reporters that the reason why the Animal Liberation Movement were beginning to behave in such a chaotic way was because they were not able to simply protest. If they had been able to protest, things would not have gotten out of hand. Mann’s sentence was reduced to 11 years due to an appeal, however it was still the longest of many sentences that a British animal rights activist had ever received.